Grove Brothers Masonry

It went pretty well.  He communicated well and was good about calling us back. He was responsive too. All told, two people came to do the work and they were at the home most of the day.

The provider never contacted me after reaching out via phone and email to schedule a time to discuss the job.  For YEARS now I get a reminder to write a review for this company when I log in.  I want this pop up to go away, hence this review for work not completed.

unknown

They were fine to deal with in terms of scheduling. There were two guys here doing the work. I did not get the feeling they paid attention to the detials. The price was fine for what they did.

This was a special offer from the contractor listed on Angies List and I needed the work done. The deal was for 4hrs work for $99. The price was right and the work was done very well and all cleaned up when finished.

A two week job took two months. Poor communication and work. Never came back to finish
cleaning the messy mortar off. Calls and e-mails ignored.

They did a good job.  They were able to do a lot of concrete repairs.

Done well

Very professional, punctual, detailed, good cleanup.

Had a little trouble getting the work scheduled, but once we did. They showed up on time and completed the work quickly and did a great job. The bricks look terrific, like new. They did such a great job, I immediately gave their name to my neighbor who was looking for someone to do similar work.

Very tough time communicating: calls and emails unanswered for long periods of time. I think my job was too small and there wasn't much interest - even though I contacted them before I bought the deal to make sure they would be interested in doing the job. Eventually got the job done and the workers did a good job.

It was a little difficult getting a date for the company to do the work.
When they did come out the young man did an excellent job in re-pointing our hundred year old chimneys in  the basement.  They did it in the alloted time of the special un-like other companies, I have had that drug out the time.
They were very efficient , professional and friendly.
Alice Bender

They did a little masonry fix up for me. They were very responsive when I called to set up the appointment. I thought it went perfect!

At first i was very pleased with the work and the people that came out. I have now noticed that there is a stone that has come loose and I wanted to get that replaced. I was told that there should be no vegetation between the stones and there is. I have tried calling them for serveral months so I am now very dissappointed.

I purchased the Angies List Big Deal which was 4 hours of masonry repairs for $100.I had a number of small and large projects and planned on contracting with this company for additional work pending a bid. I was asked to send a prioritized list which I did. The rep would not make an appointment to come out and see the job. He said he would just stop by some time. Weeks went by and several phone calls and emails by me yielded no visit. I would have dropped it but I had already paid for the Big Deal. I finally got them out five months later and they did some of the repairs on my list. They repaired part of the wall and just stopped, I assume when the prepaid money ran out. The window ledges looked good, but the wall work was kind of sloppy, with mortar on the stone faces. When this adventure started, I expected them to give me a price on the various jobs and I would have them do much more, and the Big Deal would only be part of the job, but that never came to pass. Not only would I not use this company again, but I would not purchase another Angies List Big Deal again. Seems like the contractors have little incentive to act promptly since the money is prepaid. I did call Angies List near the end of this and they said I could get a refund if I wanted, but I decided to give one more nudge to the contractor first, and that prompted the work to finally start.

Kevin was responsive during the work which took about 1 week and  a half. The sight was cleaned up every day and everyone working was polite and courteous.
The cost was comparable and even lower in some cases than other companies we received estimates from.
I highly recommend Grove Brothers, I actually already did to a neighbor who is already using them to also fix their front steps

The quality of the work was excellent.  We had to wait a little bit for an appointment but once scheduled they arrived on time, did great work and were very responsible.

I know that Kevin and Grove Brothers were a bit overwhelmed by the response that they got to the Angie's List "Big Deal" offer as well as the terribly wet weather we had this past fall and that affected their ability to keep on top of every request and may have hampered some of their communication.  However, as a small business owner myself I understand how it can be very difficult to deal with these situations at times.  I enjoyed working with Kevin Pavuk and thought that he and his crew were very experienced and skillful.  Any question I had about the work was followed up on and fixed to my satisfaction.  I thank them for a job well done and for providing us with such an upgrade to the look and feel of our front porch.  I look forward to using them for other projects in the future.

Grove Brothers and Kevin did an excellent job repairing the damage. They were prompt, efficient and real craftsman. Kevin was on the job with the crew many of the days, which means a lot. They also completely repaired, my brick front porch. Considering the amount of scaffolding, difficulty,  and two-week duration of the job, I consider the price a bargain. I highly recommend them and will use Grove Brothers in the future for all my masonry work.

I contacted Grove Brothers Masonry through the email link on Angie's List on Nov 8 and received a reply from Kevin, the owner, the next day.  Scheduled an appointment for Friday morning, Nov 11 to review and discuss options.  Kevin was at my house at the appointed time, reviewed all of the above needs with me, and gave me several options (along with his recommendation as to which was the best approach) as to fixing the porch.  He gave me an estimate on the spot and I asked him to go ahead and get me a contract and let me know when he could do the work, as I wanted to get it done before the weather got too cold, wet and/or snowy to do the repairs.

I received the written contract via email on Nov 16, along with Kevin's request to begin the work on either Nov 17 or 18, depending on weather, as the weather was too wet for another patio job he had scheduled and he could fit my smaller job into the opening (there was a LOT of rain that week).  It also rained on Nov 17, but the crew (Harry and Travis) arrived about 8:30 on Friday, Nov 18.  That day they removed all the paver bricks from the front porch and removed the crumbling concrete pad below.  They originally planned to be back on Monday, Nov 21 to lay the new concrete pad, but Harry told me Kevin had asked if he was able to work on Saturday (the next day), so they would be back then.  Kevin was also at the job site mid-morning to check on progress, and he called later to let me know that the crew would be back on Saturday, and on Saturday Nov 19 they mixed and poured the concrete for the new porch.

The crew was back on Monday, Nov 21 to lay the new brick on the new concrete pad - they were able to re-use some of my brick but not all, but the contract included any additional brick needed.  Porch looked fantastic.  Due to continued rain, they were not able to come back as scheduled on Wednesday Nov 23 to do the acid wash to clean the brick and finish the repointing in the other areas.  However, they were back on Monday, Nov 28 after Thanksgiving.  At that time Travis did the acid wash on the porch, finished remortaring the loose bricks on the steps, repointed the bricks on either side of the garage, and repointed and added a waterproofing to the exterior side of the garage to solve the water problem.

In terms of the crew, Harry, who Kevin said had been with Grove Brothers for 40 years, is clearly a MASTER mason.  When assessing the porch before tearing it out and laying new concrete and brick, he gave his opinion on how to lay some of the front brick for a better appearance - and it was right on.  Travis, working under Harry's direction, also knew his trade and obviously was experienced enough to run "solo" for the finishing work.  During the work, the work areas were left clear and as clean as feasible; the work area was totally cleaned when Travis finished the work.  During the job, Kevin also stopped by each day the crew was there and was in regular communication with me via email.

I have been totally pleased with this company's responsiveness as well as the quality of their work, and have told Kevin I will be calling him in the spring for some additional work that was not time-sensitive nor as required for safety concerns as the crumbling front porch. 

I was initially concerned because of some of the reviews regarding responsiveness (or lack thereof) - and I asked Kevin about that.  Obviously the reviews from people who actually USED his services were much more positive, and I found his explanation that he was overwhelmed with the response to the Angie's List deal he offered plausible - they are a small company, and apparently received almost as many calls in response to the deal as they do jobs in the course of a year.  I am not excusing his lack of response, but clearly my experience was very different.

Also - even though Kevin does have a coupon with a percent off on new jobs posted on Angie's List, I chose not to use it.  I value quality tradesmen (and they are getting harder to find), and while cost is certainly a factor in my choice of any service vendor, the quality and dependability of the vendor are more important to me.  You get what you pay for - the cost I was quoted for the work was fair, and the end result met and exceeded my expectations.  I would definitely recommend Grove Brothers to anyone in need of master masonry work.

Below is the text of the email I sent to the owner this morning - says it all.

Hello Kevin,

Harry and Lanny did an excellent job on the brickwork below my front door threshold.  Harry is a bricklayer's bricklayer; his work was absolutely superb, and Lanny was an attentive, respectful helper.

Once the old bricks were removed Harry said there should have been flashing behind the brickwork to eliminate any moisture getting to the bandboard from the threshold above.  As I had flashing available Harry allowed me time to do it.  Harry even suggested that one mortar joint would be too large and he would like to take up the row of bricks below those needing replacement (I had a fixed price so it wasn't on my nickel!).  He apparently wanted the work to meet his old-school standards.  Harry didn't take shortcuts and I could tell he did the job just like he would do it if it were his own home.  It seemed like he took his time but the work was completed suprisingly quickly as there was no wasted motion - he knew his trade.  And Lanny fastidiously cleaned up after the work was completed.

Having bought, remodeled and sold 12 homes over a 4-year period in the mid-2000s I know good workmanship and good owner management when I see it.  This was it.

   //  Bob

There were a few issues with the start date, but once we got that nailed down, the guys went to work. It did end up taking a little longer than expected, but that was due to rain. When they were able to work again, the project was completed quickly and very well. They did a fantastic job cleaning up the site also, which was MOST appreciated.

Grove were fast, professional and the price was good. They did a really stellar job. People on the street have stopped me while I was on my front walk and asked me who did it. I am very happy with the work they did and I would recommend the company.

The owner called me back promptly.  We discussed the design of the addition to the patio and they came and started/completed work within the time frame agreed upon.

We had a stone patio put in that blended perfectly with our existing landscape and our deck.The owner was very easy to work and had many suggestions after he listened to our ideas. We made a few changes as we went along; he was very flexible. Most importantly, the owner came by personally a few times to inspect the work, and he personally oversaw some finishing work that really enhanced the overall "feel" and appearance of it. I would highly recommend Grove Brothers to anyone wishing to have a top quality stone patio

Great Job start to finish!